Watch Nora

The film Nora is a biopic about the tumultuous relationship between Irish writer James Joyce, played by Ewan McGregor, and his muse, Nora Barnacle, played by Susan Lynch. James Joyce is the author of many classic works including Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The film depicts his struggles to get his collection of short stories, Dubliners, published due to the publishing company's desire to censor his writing. It would eventually become his first published work in 1914. The film begins with a few short scenes showing Nora's life before she meets James Joyce. She falls in love with a young man named Michael, who is killed. Her family believes she is a disgrace for having relations with him and tries to send her to a convent. She ends up in Dublin, Ireland, working as a hotel maid. Nora and James Joyce meet on the street, and he is instantly smitten with the raven-haired Nora. They have a passionate love affair that continues even as he travels to distant countries to pursue writing jobs. While he is away, they keep in touch through erotic correspondence. Eventually, Nora moves with James Joyce to Trieste, a city in Italy. They live together as an unmarried couple and are often discriminated against because this was taboo at the time. James Joyce must say he is single in order to get a job in Trieste, and when Nora becomes pregnant, they are kicked out of their apartment. His friends and family often look down on them as well. Along with the scorn they face from the outside world, they struggle to get along as their relationship becomes more and more strained. The film follows them as they have children together, get married, make love, fight, break up and reconcile. Throughout it all, Nora remains James Joyce's greatest love, inspiration and muse.